


piano

by rexflame



Series: Inazuma Coffeeshop AU [2]
Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Ambiguous Relationships, M/M, this is so dumb wtf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 14:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1902744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexflame/pseuds/rexflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>shindou breaks his wrist; they need somebody to play the old grand piano.</p>
            </blockquote>





	piano

**Author's Note:**

> this au is basically to make a bunch of crack ships sail but i'm not really sorry at all??

When Shindou arrives six hours late to work, they know something’s wrong.

He stumbles in at about the same time that Tsurugi and Tenma arrive, eyes bleary and hair frizzy. Behind the counter, Kirino is ready to shoot a glare at the latecomer when he sees the exhaustion in his state and his blue eyes turn from a hardened glacier to an apologetic stare. The brunet gives a sort of disheartened wave to his pink-haired friend, and that’s when the other three notice.

"What happened to your hand?!"

He sounds a little bit more hysterical than he should, probably, but he’s exhausted from handling crowds of customers (although Kazemaru- no, his boyfriend helped with some of them). The coffeepot nearly slips from his hands, but he manages to keep it safe and step around the counter to closer inspect his long-time friend.

"I broke it," Shindou replies wearily; up close, he looks even more pained and tired than he did from a distance. A painful grimace is formed on his face.

"How?" Tenma queries from behind the counter as he ties his apron around him with a sloppy knot.

"I tripped," the pianist explains, seeming rather embarrassed by that. Certainly, it isn’t a glamorous story.

"You should be home," Tsurugi comments in that nonchalant tone of his, in a way that suggests he’s pretending not to care although he does.

"I’m alright," the injured one protests in response, "and besides, there’s only four of us, I couldn’t leave you three to-"

"Go home. Now."

Everyone is surprised at the tone that enters Kirino’s voice, including Kirino himself.

"But someone has to play the piano."

The words are true, they realize; by now, Shindou almost exclusively plays piano, and it attracts quite a good amount of attention. They could undoubtedly be put in a tight spot with him off piano for a couple weeks.

“Can you play with one hand?” asks Tenma, innocently.

“No…” he admits, looking rather crestfallen.

“My brother plays.”

The words from Tsurugi surprise all of them, resulting in a unified “What?!”. The dark-haired boy had never been very open about his home life or really much of anything, compared to the others. Indeed, the other three hadn’t been aware he had a brother.

"I’ll see if he’d come play in this run down place."

The next day, at noon, there’s one extra person.

Despite their best efforts, the most they could get Shindou to do was come in later; therefore, he joined in with the noon shift. So in he stumbles, trailed by a rather concerned looking Tenma, and then by Tsurugi, pushing a male in a wheelchair, one whom Kirino can only assume is the brother that had been mentioned yesterday. There’s a resemblance he catches even from a distance, same dark hair and the same face, too; the biggest difference is the warmth in the elder’s eyes, so unlike the ice in the younger’s.

"Hello," he greets with a warm and round voice that fills the empty spaces in the little shop.

“I’m Tsurugi Yuuichi. Kyosuke has told me a lot about you guys.”

The smile that forms on Yuuichi’s face is warm and contagious, and Kirino finds himself smiling too.

"I’m Kirino Ranmaru," he introduces, "that’s Matsukaze Tenma," a gesture to the brunet, "and that’s Shindou Takuto."

"Nice to meetcha!" Tenma pipes with a big grin as the bell on the door rings and a blue-haired male steps inside.

"…and that’s my boyfriend, Kazemaru Ichirouta."

Kazemaru seems surprised to hear his name, golden eyes widening. His gaze drifts to the unfamiliar boy, then up to Tsurugi, then back down.

"Are we doing introductions?" Kirino’s boyfriend asks sheepishly.

"I just introduced you," Kirino replies, and leans forward to give his boyfriend a peck on the cheek before remembering they’re in public and pulling back.

“I’m Tsurugi Yuuichi,” the elder brother repeats, and Kazemaru nods with a smile.

“So, you play piano?” Shindou asks, breaking the momentary silence.

Yuuichi nods in reply, and wheels himself over to the grand piano that the brunet is carelessly leaning against.

"This is an old piano," he comments, brushing his fingers over the keys as he settles by it.

“But it’s been well maintained.”

"I take care of it," Shindou says, a hint of childish pride in his voice that makes Yuuichi chuckle.

And then he plays.

There is no music on the stand; his eyes simply shut and his pale fingers launch into song. A complicated melody fills the air, captivating everyone in the shop. Even their resident pianist seems surprised, but pleasantly so. The melody continues for a few minutes until it gradually tapers off into a flurry of notes from the uppermost octave.

"You’re…you’re good," Shindou comments, obviously in awe.

"Thank you!" Yuuichi responds with a grin.

"…when my wrist gets better, we should play a duet together."

"I’ll look forward to it!"


End file.
